A brief departure from our regularly scheduled Imperial programming…
As a longtime Dungeon Master, I’m always hunting for fresh source material. Sure, I’ve read Conan, Elric, and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser more times than I can count, but running campaigns year after year demands new inspiration—new characters, new conflicts, new ways heroes can solve problems with steel and wit.
The good news? The pulp tradition isn’t dead. There’s a thriving community of sword and sorcery writers keeping heroic fantasy alive in magazines that would feel right at home next to Weird Tales on a newsstand circa 1930.
I recently came across this excellent guide from The Literary Fantasy Magazine, and it’s opened up a whole new world of reading material. Here are the highlights:
Active Magazines Worth Your Time
Savage Realms Monthly – Published monthly (just like the old pulps!) and available on Kindle Unlimited. This is where modern S&S authors cut their teeth.
Sword & Sorcery Magazine – Free, monthly web publication with over 160 issues in their archives. That’s years of material. They run on Patreon support.
Tales From the Magician’s Skull – Now published by Outland Entertainment, this one nails the classic pulp aesthetic.
New Edge Sword & Sorcery – Takes the classic formula but pushes boundaries with inclusive storytelling. Issue 0 is free, and their physical editions have gorgeous interior design.
Battleborn Magazine – Brand new to the scene (first issue drops February 2026) and already building a strong community. They ran a successful IndieGoGo campaign.
Goblins and Galaxies – Another newcomer that launched with an $18,000 Kickstarter. Two issues available now.
Also Worth Checking Out
- Heroic Fantasy Quarterly – Free quarterly publication, been around since 2009, now doing audio adaptations
- Old Moon Quarterly – Eight volumes available as eBooks and paperbacks
- Crimson Quill Quarterly – Grassroots indie publishing with classic black ink illustrations
- Whetstone – Sadly defunct as of 2023, but all eight issues are free to download
Why This Matters (To Me, Anyway)
Running D&D campaigns means constantly needing fresh ideas for NPCs, plot hooks, and the kinds of problems that can’t be solved with diplomacy checks. Sword and sorcery gives you outsider heroes, moral ambiguity, and decisive action—exactly the energy that makes tabletop gaming exciting.
These magazines are doing what Howard, Leiber, and Moorcock did: publishing short, punchy stories about scoundrels, warriors, and sorcerers navigating dangerous worlds. Perfect campaign fuel.
If you’re a fellow DM looking to expand beyond the usual Appendix N reading list, check out the full guide here.
Now back to your regularly scheduled galactic domination.